Knife sharpening question

[Obi-Dan]

Over the last five years or so I have replaced the Chicago knives we got as a wedding gift so many years ago and now I have a eclectic set of knives that I like. A few are Cutco that my parents bought from a friend of mine when he was selling them in college 20+ years ago, but the rest are mostly European Style from a few different companies. However I do have a Santoku but it was made here in the U.S.

I hone my knives pretty regularly and take good care of them so they are still pretty sharp but want to sharpen them. I have started looking at sharpeners and have run into a topic I had never heard of 15 degree vs. 20 degree. From what I can tell all Asian knives have a 15 degree edge and traditionally European knives have a 20 degree edge. But most have switched over to 15. But I have different knives and a few are old which I inherited from my parents.

My question is how do I know which knife has what edge? Can I just get an 15 degree sharpener and basically grind them all to 15 degrees or do I get one that does both? But if I do that I go back to how do I know what knife has what edge?

This is one of those time where I was blissful in my ignorance.

Any help is obliged.

[LangInGibsonia]

I'm no expert here so if someone else has more experience with this topic, please reply. That being said, because I'm no expert I have no interest in sharpening my own steel. I see no reason to ruin a $150-$300 blade to save $3-$8 per blade to have a professional sharpen it. Heck, my local Market District has sharpening days when a pro comes and and does them all while I wait, for free!! Not worth the risk in my opinion.

[Obi-Dan]

This makes sense but is something I never thought of. I will look into my options. I live in the 4th largest city in America. Surely someone here professionally sharpens knives for a living.

[ribeyeguy]

http://www.serenityknives.com/sharpening-service/

[Cheef]

I love to sharpen my own. I never grind--just use a ruby honing steel on them. A lot of people make the mistake of trying to over sharpen.
Here is a link that I really like to pass along to folks. Some good videos on this site for sharpening.

http://www.newwestknifeworks.com/content/information/how-to-sharpen-knives

[Obi-Dan]

Thanks for the link.

[ribeyeguy]

I don't know anything about blade edge degrees, honing stones, grits, etc. When mine get dull I swipe them through my wife's Rachel Ray sharpening gadget and they seem to cut better for a while. When they simply won't hold an edge anymore I pick up a new Hen & Rooster set from Frost Cutlery for 30 bucks or so. Even less if they're a part of the nightly "insane deal", then I can get about a thousand knives for a single c-note.

​To a true knife aficionado what I just posted is probably akin to blasphemy. Other than the fact that I have about a zillion garbage knives in my garage it seems to work well for me though. Anyone need a knife?

[mgaretz]

If you want to put a new angle on your blade, then yes, you could get a 15 degree sharpener, but some Asian knives will have even steeper angles. I saw an ad for the new Myobi line today that said angles were in the 12 to 9 degree range.

Now if you get system that lets you set the angle, (my fav is the EdgePro), then you use a sharpie to color the edge. Then you start with the angle you think the blade is at and take a light test swipe. Now you look at the ink. If the ink is almost all gone or there's a line in the center, your angle is correct. If the ink is worn on one side or the other, your angle is off. Adjust till it's right. Now you are sharpening at the knives actual angle.

[Obi-Dan]

Thanks. I will look into that.

[Dr ROK]

Ditto what mgaretz said above. The EdgePro is a great system. You determine the angle as he described and then start sharpening. Very easy to use, and plenty of videos to watch if you are in to videos. I have emailed the company folks with questions a couple times and they always get back to me in a VERY short time. They also always say to call if I have any questions and they'll walk me through it.

[Fine Swine]

I have no idea on the angle. I pretty much always take my knives to work and use their grinder in the kitchen. You should not be able to ruin the knives unless you grind heavy and heat the heck out the metal. The sharpie marker is a good thing to do though and I use that technique on really big knives. Small ones, I just eyeball it. I always grind pretty light and no more than twice per year.

[PaulstheRibList]

I have this KME Sharpener and love it. The top FAQ is his advice on how to find the angle. Do an easy youtube search on the KME sharpener and you'll find guys showing you how.

My knives are SHARP! Makes prepping meat way more fun.

[Obi-Dan]

I will look into it. Thanks.

[mgaretz]

The KME is similar to the EdgePro and less expensive. Biggest downside I can see is it only goes down to 15 degrees while the EdgePro can go down to 10.

[Letmebefrank]

Actually you can get below 15 degrees with the KME. Here's a video on how...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cOpzt2C8OU&list=PL3WzDma3YU0PbOLBNcSpoCQm-4niJ1upZ&index=12

[gcdmd]

I have a stone jig from Australia, called the EZESharp, similar to the EdgePro. I've used mine and like it, especially for breaking in a knife or one that may have been around awhile and gotten banged up. I have also done a lot of free hand sharpening in the past and got pretty good at it.

However, I now have some shoulder issues and find that repetitive sharpening movements, even if protecting my shoulder as best I can, can be a problem, especially if I have a lot of knives to sharpen or a particularly difficult knife. After reading Cook's Illustrated's review of electric sharpeners I decided to swallow my pride and buy a Chef's Choice Trizor XV Model 15 sharpener, and I haven't looked back. I got mine at Amazon, using the AR link.

Disclaimer: I am a private individual, not a paid endorser or sales person, and am speaking from personal experience.

George

[Doc Hazard]

Unless you have really special knives, you probably don't really need to worry about the angle, the usual standard is 15 deg; smaller lose sharpness faster and can damage easier, larger is more rugged. 20 deg is often used on pocket knives, hunting knives, etc. Some blades have compound angles, something like 25 deg or so, then finer at the cutting edge. Not many machines can do that. Asian knives are often flat on one side, and angled on the other (like scissors) ; don't put an angle on the flat side.

I've sharpened by hand, and I've had a Chef Chief that I didn't much care for and gave away. Now I use a Work Sharp belt sharpener, a small version of what most professionals use. Their website has a lot of info and videos. http://www.worksharptools.com You can do different angles, only one side, and even sharpen your hoe, ax or shovel. I like it and use it on all sorts of knives, about 2x per year with a good steel in between.

If by "fourth largest city" you mean Houston, Berings Hardware has a sharpening service, as do other hardwares, probably. If you have a favorite restaurant, ask who sharpens their knives. In many cases a guy comes buy in a truck every so often, parks in the lot, and sharpens all their knives. Find out when and meet him there and he'll probably do yours very reasonably. I used to buy knives from one, too.

[Obi-Dan]

I do indeed live in Houston (well Jersey Village area) and work not too far from Berings. Haven't been there in a long time. That's a cool store. Thanks for the tip and for all the other info.

[vandy]

Thanks for this info, from watching the videos the worksharp systems look very easy to use and very versitile

[cfrazier77]

I have been sharpening knives for a very long time, I used to work for the Boy Scouts. The best, by easiest and quickest, is sharpening wheels. http://www.gpknives.com/sharpening-wheel-set.html
I have never overheated a blade and it is very easy to grind whatever angle you want. Also, when a knife is just getting dull you can just polish so you are not working the metal that much.

[Don Jr]

I bought a DMT diamond stone kit a few years back with a two sided leather strop and stropping compound. I LOVE to sharpen my knives and can get them all razor sharp freehand. It just takes a little practice. My issue with sending them out is most people who sharpen at markets etc use a grinding wheel and I don't want to remove that much steel, nor is it needed. I don't use a steel on my knives, just the leather strop with compound.

[Jerod Broussard]

Don Jr Is it leather "strap" "strop" or "strope"

I used to sharpen my own broadheads for bowhunting and was told it was "stroping," but another guy told me it was "strapping" since it was a leather strap.

[Obi-Dan]

It's stropping. He was stropping his knife with a leather strop before he strapped it to his ankle. Another win for a degree in English Literature.

[Jerod Broussard]

Thanks for the clarification.

[Strat50]

For what I do, both at home and at work, the shallower angles(15 degrees) are great for cutting bone free meat or sushi, and the greater angles(20 degrees or so) are better for chopping. When cutting meat, slicing sushi, etc., your blade is not getting worked all that hard. When chopping, with the hundreds of multiple cuts used,the knife gets worked a great deal more. Shallower angles are indeed "sharper," but dull relatively soon. Greater angles, are less sharp, but will hold up to more abuse(mostly by your cutting board!).

So, I sharpen my boning/fillet knives shallower, and my french knives to about 20 degrees. Understand, this is splitting major hairs here. 20 degrees works well across the board, but I will have to sharpen my boning knives more often, by a little bit. As I see it, knives are "consumables." They don't last forever so, one should take that into account. Just concentrate on the food and what you're doing, and you'll find what works in your kitchen.

[RonB]

For me, the easiest/best way to sharpen knives is the system made by Spyderco. As long as you can slice vertically, it's a snap. You can sharpen at either 15 or 20 degrees, and it will also sharpen serrated knives. The link is to the Spyderco site, but Amazon sells them for about half the price. If you have a knife or two that have odd angles, you might consider adding the diamond impregnated rods to correct the angle.
I should add that my dad and I were the "official" sharpeners for the hunt club and for when it was time to butcher animals on relatives farms for many years. We used stones and steels, but after I started using this system, my dad also switched to it too.

https://www.spyderco.com/catalog/details.php?product=77

Ron

[Obi-Dan]

Thanks for the link. I'll check it out.